Arm for flying-target traps



1 t e e h S S t e e h S 2 A D C P m d 0 M 0 m ARM FOR- FLYING TARGET TRAPS.

Patented Jan. 26, 1886.

N. PETERS. Fholn Lllhogmphsr. Washingtonv D. C.

(No Modelg) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

F. G. DAMM.

ARM FOR FLYING TARGETTRAPS.

No. 334,849. Patented Jan. 26, 1886.

Wheaties} I Mani?? (B W M r/v M rrn STATES ArEN'r OFFICE.

FREDRIOK o. DA'MM, or PEORIA,,ILLINOIS.

ARM FOR FLYING-TARGET TRAPS.

SPECIFECATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 33%,849, dated January 26, 1886.

Application filed June 3, 1885. Serial No. 167,465. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDRICK O. DAMM, a citizen of the United States, residing in Peoria, county of Peoria, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Arms for Throwing Flying Targets, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of this invention are to provide a throwing or propelling arm ofa flying-target machine which shall positively hold the target during a portion of the vibration of the arm and until the proper moment for discharging the target therefrom, and of such a character that the stop or pin retaining the target shall be automatic in its operation in releasing the target from the arm.- I attain these objects by devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a propelling-arm embodying my invention and in its operative position in a machine adapted to actuate said arm; Fig. 2, a detail plan view showing the propelling-arm in position for receiving the target; Fig.3, a detail section .On line X X, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a detail plan view showing the propellingarm drawn back in position ready for the throw; Fig. 5, a detail plan view of the target-plate on the end of the propelling-arm,shown in position for receiving or discharging the target; Fig. 6, a section thereof on the lineY Y, Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a detail plan view thereof,showing thetarget-plate at right angles to the propelling-arm and in position to secure the target in place; Fig. 8, an end view thereof.

The propellingarm A preferably forms a part of the flying-target machine set forth in an application for United States Letters Patent heretofore filed by me and numbered 159,867, in which machine the arm is pivoted at its extremity to a fixed bar or block, a, and connected forward of its pivot and pivotally with a spring-actuated and yielding bar, I), in such a manner that when the arm is caught in a latch-lever, c, at the forward end of the machine the spring actuating the bar I) will be under tension, so that when the propelling-arm is released from the latch it will be vibrated to propel the target. The forward end or free extremity of this arm in my present invention has pivoted thereon and a short distance from the end of the arm a plate or bed-piece, B, for

supporting the target, which plate is provided at suitable intervals with a series of lugs, d,

or an upturned flange embracing the edges of the target, as clearly indicated in the drawings. At the rear edge of the plate and rising above the same is an overhanging plate orjaw. e, which, in connection with the bedplate, is designed to embrace a lug or other projection on the edge of the target and pre vent the target from rising perpendicular to the face of the bed-plate, but not sufficiently confining the target to prevent its sliding off the bedplate at the proper moment. This overhanging bracket may be rigid or of spring metal in sheet-like form, or may consist of a short wire or a stud cast on the bed-plate. On the under side of the bed plate toward its open or free edge is secured a curved spring, 0, which projects rearwardl y to a point just beyond the extremity of the propelling-arm, and has se cured thereon a stud or pin, D, which, when the spring is free, as hereinafter described, projects through a perforation, E, in the bedplate.

The forward end of the propelling-arm is slightly bent downwardly, or thickened, so as to form a wedgeshaped cam, F, which, as the bed-plate is vibrated upon its pivot, engages the end of the spring and actuating the same depresses the pin or stud below the plane of the face of the bed-plate, the pin being at the limit of its backward stroke when the bed-plate is swung on its pivot at the moment the stud is on a line centrally through the length of the propelling-arm.

When the pin or stud is in the position last above described, the target may be inserted in its operative position on the bed-p1ate-that is to say, so as to project underneath the overhanging arm-and with a perforation in the target coinciding with the pin. If while in this position the bed-plate is swung laterally on its pivot, the lug will project into the perforation or indentation in the target, holding the target in a positive manner to the bed-plate until the bed-plate is swung back to the position before described.

In practice, after the target is inserted to its operating position the bed-plate is swung to a position substantially at a right angle from the propelling-arm, after which the arm is set for throwing the target.

When the propelling-arm is released, and as it begins to vibrate,the bed-plate, owing to its pivot-connection with the arm, swings on its pivot in the same direction as the arm, and in so doing causes the end of the arm to engage the spring-actuated stud and to release thev target from said stud at the moment the propelling-arm has attained its maximum velocity and is in position to discharge the target in the desired direction from the machine or trap.

By confining and releasing the target in the bed-plate, it is obvious that its operation will be the same if it were mounted above the bedplate and actuated from a direction opposite to that now shown, in which case a suitable projection engaging with the propelling-arm rearward of its forward end would serve to actuate the stud at the proper moment. In this connection it may also be observed that by placing the spring actuated stud above the bed-plate the perforation in the bed-plate can be dispensed with, and the spring of the stud serve the purpose of the bracket, and be substituted therefor.

While I have shown and described aspringactuated stud in position for engaging a depression or perforation in a lug upon the target, it would require no departure from my invention to shift the position of said stud to adapt it for engaging a depression orlug found in the body of the target at a point removed from the edges thereof, and in which target no lug appears. So, also, said lug may be rigidwith the bed-plate, or in some fixed piece rising above the same, when targets are employed in which the depression and perforation are provided with a side channel or slot extending radially therefrom, though it may be observed that in such case it is essential that the target should have a vibration about the stud, and that, therefore, the lugs or flange on the edges of the bed-plate should be removed.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The propelling-arm of a target machine or trap, in combination with a bed-plate, a fixed pivoted connection between said arm and plate, and a stud or pinadapted to project into a depression or perforation in the target, substantially as described.

2. In a target machine or trap, the propelling-arm, in combination with a bed-plate or support for the target, an affixed pivot-connection between said arm and bed-plate, and a spring-actuated stud for engaging a depression or perforation in a target placed in its operative position upon the bed-plate, substantially as described.

3. The swinging arm, the bed-plate pivoted thereto, and a projecting bracket on the upper side of said bed-plate, in combination with a spring-actuated stud supported on the under side of the plate and means for actuating said stud, substantially as described.

4. The propelling-arm provided at its forward end with a cam and a bed-plate pivoted on said arm rearwardly of the cam, in combination with a spring and a stud thereon, adapted to engage the cam on the propellingarm, substantially as described.

5. The propelling-arm and the bed-plate provided with a flange or lugs on the side edge thereof, in combination with the bracket projecting forward over said plate and a springactuated stud below the bracket, adapted to be projected through said bed-plate, substantially as described.

FREDRIGK C. DAMM.

VVitnesses:

W. .W. ELLIOTT, WILL R. OMOHUNDRO. 

